Ajay Goel, Ph.D., M.S.

626-256-4673
Portrait of Dr. Ajay Goel
Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics; Associate Director of Basic Science, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Research Area
Gastrointestinal Cancers
Appointments
Director, Biotech Innovations
Dynamic and passionate — with a formidable record of patented innovations in cancer care — Ajay Goel, Ph.D., M.S., is committed to developing better methods for the early detection and precision treatment of cancer. He joined City of Hope in June 2019 as founding chair of the new Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics and founding director of Biotech Innovations at Beckman Research Institute. Dr. Goel is also the associate director of basic science for the comprehensive cancer center and is a fellow of the American Gastroenterology Association.
 
“City of Hope has a wonderful track record of moving discoveries from bench to clinic,” he said. “And by founding this new department, which will add a layer of earlier noninvasive diagnostics, we will hopefully make a difference in this war on cancer.”
 
A noted expert in gastrointestinal and other cancers, Goel is currently developing early-detection blood tests for colon, pancreatic and ovarian cancers — as well as a test for pancreatic cancer that can detect the disease seven years earlier than is now possible. Within the next few years, these tests are expected to become a simple and affordable part of everyone’s annual health physical, just like tests for diabetes or cholesterol.
 
He is also working with genomic-based precision oncology to provide answers to the question: Why do therapies work with some good candidates and not with others.
 
Goel was born in India, received his Ph.D. in biophysics from Punjab University, completed his postgraduate work at the University of California San Diego, and went on to a noteworthy 16-year career at Baylor Scott & White Research Institute in Texas. He has authored more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and holds more than 30 advanced genomic and transcriptomic international patents .
 
One surprising fact about Goel: In addition to his technological expertise, he finds wisdom in the ancient Indian medical system Ayurveda, which has given us such natural therapies as the proven anti-inflammatory in turmeric. Prevention, he believes, is the best medicine.
 
Location
Education & Experience
Degrees

  • 1991-1996, Ph.D., Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

  • 1988-1990, M.S. (Honors), Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

  • 1985-1988, B.S. (Honors), Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

Fellowship

  • 1998-present, AGAF - Fellow, American Gastroenterology Association

Professional Experience

  • 2020-present, Associate Director of Basic Science, Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2019-present, Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2016-2019, Michael A Ramsay Chair in Cancer Genomics, Baylor Scott & White Healthcare

  • 2015-2019, Adjunct Distinguished Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences at Curtin University, Perth, Australia

  • 2015-2019, Adjunct Professor, Baylor University Institute for Biomedical Studies, Baylor University, Waco, TX

  • 2014-2019, Director, Center for Translational Genomics and Oncology, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and Charles A Sammons Cancer Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX

  • 2012-2019, Director, Center for Gastrointestinal Research, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and Charles A Sammons Cancer Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX

  • 2005-2019, Investigator/Professor, Baylor Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX

  • 2011-2014, Director, Epigenetics and Cancer Prevention Research, Baylor Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX

  • 2003-2005, Associate Investigator (equivalent to Associate Professor), Baylor Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX

  • 2001-2003, Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Medicine and Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California

Awards & Memberships
Awards

  • 2018, Award for being the Top Reviewer for the Gastroenterology journal

  • 2018, Podium presentation at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) 2018 annual meeting, Chicago

  • 2018, Four oral presentations, including at the AGA’s Plenary Topic Forum, DDW 2018

  • 2018, American Gastroenterology Association Poster of Distinction Award

  • 2018, Selected for oral presentation at the AACR 2018 annual meeting

  • 2017, Awarded a National Cancer Institute Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium U01 grant award

  • 2017, Three oral presentations at the AGA’s Plenary Topic Forum, DDW

  • 2017, American Gastroenterology Association Poster of Distinction Award

  • 2016, Selected into the AACR Basic Cancer Research Fellowships Scientific Review Award Committee

  • 2016, American Gastroenterology Association Poster of Distinction Award

  • 2016, Michael A Ramsay Chair in Translational Genomics and Oncology

  • 2016, American Gastroenterology Association Poster of Distinction Awards at the annual AGA/DDW meetings in San Diego

Memberships

  • 2018-present, Member, Early Detection Research Network

  • 2017-present, Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology

  • 2017-present, Member, Cancer Epigenetics Society

  • 1998-present, Member, American Association for Cancer Research

  • 1998-present, Member and Fellow, American Gastroenterology Association (AGA)

  • 1993-present, Member, Electron Microscopy Society of India

  • 1989-present, Lifetime Member, Society of Biophysicists of India

  • 1989-present, Member, Association of Medical Physicists of India (AMPI)

  • 1994-1996, Member, Microscopy Society of America

Publications
  • Okada Y, Nishiwada S, Yamamura K, Sho M, Baba H, Takayama T and Goel A (2021). Identification of LAMC2 as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for determining response to gemcitabine-based therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. European Journal of Cancer, (In Press).
  • Lee IS, Lee H, Hur H, Kanda M, Yook JH, Kim BS, Woo Y, Kodera Y, Kim KS and Goel A (2021). Transcriptomic profiling identifies a risk stratification signature for predicting peritoneal recurrence and micrometastasis in patients with gastric cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, (In Press).
  • Crichton DJ, Altinok A, Amos C, Anton K, Cinquini L, Colbert M, Feng Z, Goel A, Kelly S, Kincaid S, Liu D, Lomeyda S, Mahabal A, Patriotis C and Srivastava S (2020). Cancer biomarkers and big data: A planetary science approach. Cancer Cell, 38(6): 757-760. [Epub ahead of print]; PMID: 32976775.
  • Nishiwada S, Sho M, Banwait JK, Yamamura K, Akahori T, Nakamura K, Baba H and Goel A (2020). A microRNA signature identified pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients at risk for lymph node metastases. Gastroenterology, 159(2): 562-574. PMID: 32376411.
  • Jung G, Hernandez-Illa E, Moreira L, Balaguer F and Goel A (2020). Epigenetics of colorectal cancer: Biomarker and therapeutic potential. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 17(2): 111-130. PMID: 31900466. PMCID: PMC7228650.
  • Kandimalla R, Shimura T, Mallik S, Sonohara F, Tsai S, Evans DB, Kim SC, Baba H, Kodera Y, Von Hoff D, Chen X and Goel A (2020). Identification of serum miRNA signature and establishment of a nomogram for risk-stratification in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Annals of Surgery, [Epub ahead of print]; PMID:32398486.
  • Kandimalla R, Gao F, Li Y, Huang H, Ke J, Deng X, Zhao L, Zhou S, Goel A* and Wang X (2019). RNAMethyPro: a biologically conserved signature of N6-methyladenosine regulators for predicting survival at pan-cancer level.  NPJ Precision Oncology, 3:13. PMID: 31069256. PMCID: PMC6494854.
  • Ruiz-Banobre J, Kandimalla R and Goel A (2019). Predictive biomarkers for therapeutic response in metastatic colorectal cancer: A systematic review. JCO Precision Oncology, 156(4): 890-903. PMID: 32914007. PMCID: PMC7446314.
  • Kandimalla R, Ozawa T, Gao F, Nozawa H, Hata K, Nagata H, Okada S, Izumi D, Baba H, Watanabe T, Fleshman J, Pellise M, Bujanda L, Cuatrecasas M, Balaguer F, Wang X and Goel A (2019). Gene expression signature in surgical tissues and endoscopic biopsies identifies high-risk T1 colorectal cancers. Gastroenterology, 156(8):2338-2341.  PMID: 30797795. PMCID: PMC6538250.   
  • Kandimalla R, Gao F, Matsuyama T, Ishikawa T, Uetake H, Takahashi N, Yamada Y, Becerra C, Kopetz S, Wang X and Goel A (2018). Genome-wide discovery and identification of a novel miRNA signature for recurrence prediction in stage II and III colorectal cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 24(16): 3867-3877. PMID: 29514841. PMCID: PMC6095767.
  • Weng W, Liu N, Toiyama Y, Kusunoki M, Nagasaka T, Fujiwara T, Wei Q, Qin H, Lin H, Ma Y and Goel A (2018). Novel evidence for a PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) as an oncogenic mediator of disease progression, and a potential diagnostic biomarker in colorectal cancer. Molecular Cancer, 17(1): 16. PMID: 29382334. PMCID: PMC5791351. 
  • Ozawa T, Kandimalla R, Gao F, Nozawa H, Hata K, Nagata H, Okada S, Izumi D, Baba H, Fleshman J, Wang X, Watanabe T and Goel A (2018). A microRNA signature associated with metastasis of T1 colorectal cancers to lymph nodes. Gastroenterology, 154(4):844-848. PMID: 29199088. PMCID: PMC5847452.
  • Toiyama Y, Okugawa Y, Tanaka K, Araki T, Uchida K, Hishida A, Uchino M, Ikeuchi H, Hirota S, Kusunoki M, Boland CR and Goel A (2017). A panel of methylated microRNA biomarkers for identifying high-risk patients with Ulcerative colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology, 153(6): 1634-1646; PMID: 28847750. PMCID: PMC28847750.
  • Weng W, Wei Q, Toden S, Yoshida K, Nagasaka T, Fujiwara T, Cai S, Qin H, Ma Y and Goel A (2017). Circular RNA ciRS-7: A promising prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in colorectal cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 23(14): 3918-3928. PMID: 28174233. PMCID: PMC5511556.
  • Ozawa T, Matsuyama T, Toiyama Y, Takahashi N, Ishikawa T, Uetake H, Yamada Y, Kusunoki M, Calin G and Goel A (2017). CCAT1 and CCAT2 long noncoding RNAs, located within the 8q24.21 ‘gene desert’, serve as important prognostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer. Annals of Oncology, 28(8): 1882-1888. PMID: 28838211. PMCID: PMC5834045.
  • Hur K, Toiyama Y, Okugawa Y, Ide S, Imaoka H, Boland CR and Goel A (2017). Circulating microRNA-203 predicts prognosis and metastasis in human colorectal cancer. Gut, 66(4): 654-665. PMID: 26701878. PMCID: PMC4919275.
  • Boland CR and Goel A (2016). Prognostic subgroups among patients with stage II colon cancer. NEJM: New England Journal of Medicine, 374(3): 277-278. PMID: 26789877. PMCID: PMC4852473. 
  • Hur K, Toiyama Y, Schetter AJ, Okugawa Y, Harris CC, Boland CR and Goel A (2015). Identification of a metastasis-specific microRNA signature in human colorectal cancer. JNCI: Journal of National Cancer Institute, 107(3): 1-11. PMID: 25663689. PMCID: PMC4334826. 
  • Toiyama Y, Takahashi M, Hur K, Nagasaka T, Tanaka K, Inoue Y, Kusonoki M, Boland CR and Goel A (2013). Serum miR-21 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in colorectal cancer. JNCI: Journal of National Cancer Institute, 105(12): 849-859. PMID: 23704278. PMCID: PMC3687369. 
  • Hur K, Toiyama Y, Takahashi M, Balaguer F, Nagasaka T, Koike J, Hemmi H, Koi M, Boland CR and Goel A (2013). MicroRNA-200c modulates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human colorectal cancer metastasis. Gut, 62(9): 1315-1326. PMID: 22735571. PMCID: PMC3787864. 
  • Goel A and Boland CR (2012). Epigenetics of colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology, 143(6): 1442-1460. PMID: 23000599. PMCID: PMC3611241. 
  • Goel A, Nagasaka T, Spiegel J, Meyer R, Lichliter WE and Boland CR (2010). Low frequency of Lynch syndrome among young patients with non-familial colorectal cancer. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 8(11): 966-971. PMID: 20655395. PMCID: PMC2964436.
  • Nagasaka T, Tanaka N, Cullings HM, Sun DS, Sasamoto H, Uchida T, Koi M, Nishida N, Namomoto Y, Boland CR, Matsubara N and Goel A (2009). Analysis of fecal DNA methylation to detect gastrointestinal neoplasia. JNCI: Journal of National Cancer Institute, 101(18): 1244-1258. PMID: 19700653. PMCID: PMC2762745.
  • Goel A, Kunnumakkara AB and Aggarwal BB (2008). Curcumin as “Curecumin”: From kitchen to clinic. Biochemical Pharmacology, 75(4): 787-809. PMID: 17900536.
  • Shin SK, Nagasaka T, Jung BH, Matsubara N, Kim WH, Carethers JM, Boland CR and Goel A (2007). Epigenetic and genetic alterations in Netrin-1 receptors UNC5C and DCC in human colon cancer. Gastroenterology, 133(6): 1849-1857. PMID: 18054557. PMCID: PMC4139066.
  • Goel A, Nagasaka T, Arnold CN, Inoue T, Hamilton C, Niedzwiecki D, Compton C, Mayer RJ, Goldberg R, Bertagnolli MM and Boland CR. (2007). The CpG Island Methylator Phenotype and chromosomal instability are inversely correlated in sporadic colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology, 132(1): 127-138. PMID: 17087942.
  • Gasche C, Chang CL, Natarajan L, Goel A, Rhees J, Young DJ, Arnold CN, and Boland CR. (2003). Identification of frame-shift Intermediate Mutant Cells. PNAS: Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA, 100 (4): 1914-1919. PMID: 12578960. PMCID: PMC149933.
  • Goel A, Arnold CN, Niedzwiecki D, Chang DK, Ricciardiello L, Carethers JM, Dowell JM, Wasserman L, Compton C, Mayer RJ, Bertagnolli MM and Boland CR. (2003). Characterization of sporadic colon cancer by patterns of genomic instability. Cancer Research, 63(7): 1608-1614. PMID: 12670912.